Tego Calderón

Moving back to Puerto Rico, Calderón also found a new appreciation for such Jamaican dancehall performers as Buju Banton, Super Cat, and Ninja Man. Around the same time,the Reggaetón movement began to become a force in Puerto Rico. Calderón began to forge his own multicultural rap style, earning a reputation as a street poet with a fresh musical approach. He credits fellow Puerto Rican hip-hop pioneer Vico C with inspiring him to rap in Spanish, instead of imitating the English catch phrases of African-American hip-hop. Establishing himself as a new voice of the streets, he made a series of appearances on best-selling Latin hip-hop compilations. A remix collection entitled “EL ENEMY DE LOS GUASÍBIRI,” released in 2004, consisted largely of tracks which had appeared on those early compilations. “EL ABAYARDE” released in 2002, broke sales records in the then-underground Reggaetón genre, selling a remarkable 50,000 on the first day of its release, and Calderón became an overnight Latin superstar. Just three months after making his solo debut, Calderón was greeted with a tumultuous response at a sold-out concert at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan.The following day, he made history when he became the first rap artist to perform at the traditional National Day of Salsa celebration. When Tego first headlined New York’s Madison Square Garden in August 2003, The New York Times heralded him as “the most forward-looking performer” of the artists on the bill, noting that “Mr. Calderón made the best case for Reggaetón as music with room to grow.” In October 2004, when he returned to the stage of the Garden as the star of the breakthrough “Megatón 2004” event, attendance had swelled from 12,000 to a sold-out 20,000,with a large number of non-Spanish-speaking fans in the audience. “The crowd erupted into a frenzy,” noted the Village Voice. “The fruit of Tego’s crossover appeal was palpable...They were bopping their heads and flailing their arms to the universal beat.” As Latin rappers have been embraced by the American hip-hop culture, Calderón has been featured on a variety of mix tapes and has been invited to add his trademark vocal style to collaborations and remixes by the likes of Fat Joe’s Terror Squad (the #1 smash,“Lean Back”),Usher,50 Cent,Cypress Hill,and Wyclef Jean, among others. From his appearances at New York’s annual Puerto Rican Day parades in 2004 and 2005, to becoming the first Spanish-language artist to be featured on New York’s Power-105, Calderón has been breaking cultural barriers. In a cover story on Calderón and Reggaetón,the Village Voice noted that Tego “almost single-handedly... steered his country’s dominant youth culture out of the island and Latino neighborhoods, and into the American stream of pop consciousness.” Among Calderón’s achievements are Latin Grammy and Billboard Award nominations, a Source Award for “International Artist of the Year,” a Tu Música award, and nominations for La Gente and Lo Nuestro awards. In the spring of 2005, Calderón signed with Atlantic Records via a deal with his own Jiggiri Records label -- becoming the first Reggaetón artist to ink a global pact with a major label. His second proper album,“THE UNDERDOG / “EL SUBESTIMADO”, is due out from Jiggiri/Atlantic Records later this year. Calderon defines this new production as a journey through the Afro-Caribbean musical scene which masterfully brings together Reggae, Dance Hall, Salsa, Bomba, Rumba, and the Deep South feeling of the blues. This new production is will feature the guests appearances of Buju Banton,Voltio, Bataklán, Eddie Dee, Luis Cabán,Yandel, Zion, Chyno Nyno, y Don Omar and the legendary salsa singer Oscar de Leon. Producers of the caliber of Cookee, Major League, Salaam Remi, Eric Figueroa, Luny Tunes, DJ Nelson, Danny Fornaris, DJ Nesty, Naldo, DJ Joe, DJ Fat and Echo & Diesel, also collaborated in the 21 track CD. Tego’s music is an experimental nexus of urban Hip Hop roughness with the poetic Caribbean rhythms transmitted by the early sounds of Salsa music. Not only is Tego,like many of his Salsa heroes,a formidable storyteller...he also incorporates the lyrical percussion and fine rhythmic lines that can be found in the works of Luis Pales Matos. Calderon’s is by far more than just another Reggaetón performer; he is a consummate street poet at the Vanguard of the Puerto Rican musical and artistic scene. While others break...Calderon’s music is the true essence of a real artist...He creates and repairs...not many current musicians can boast that.